Mum and LittleTyke

Ah yes, more from the recent archives of Auntiedom. My Easter weekend was spent visiting my gorgeous sister Kat and hubby Mike. And of course, the little bundle of wonderfulness that is my niece. LittleTyke.

Everyone was sick and overtired. Pretty much worn out. Poor LittleTyke was pretty ill and giving everyone a hell of a lot of stress trying to figure out how to best look after her, when she'd be fine one second and screaming the next.



Awww.

Kat kept apologising to me that LittleTyke wasn't her normal self. I didn't mind one little bit. As far as I'm concerned, I want to know all the little nuances of who she is. If she's sick, that's her normal self at that time. That's how she expresses it. She wasn't the usual million miles an hour. She was placid, slow and sleepy interspersed with major tears.



Mostly, could tell that she just wanted to be near her mum. Awwww.

Dad and LittleTyke

...all in a laid-back afternoon.

"NOW can we buy pink?"

I've been a shit, really I have.

For a week I have been sending messages of demand to my sister Kat, the first time mother with a stomach the size of a planet, a problem with high blood pressure and a baby that refuses to come out and see the world.

The due date (last week): Vic in a truck on the way back from the mines, sweaty, filthy, grease everywhere including in my eyebrows, nursing a mobile phone in hope and anticipation of a message to announce the arrival of LittleTyke. Ahem. Where is my neice or nephew?

I was impatient. For a week I have been snapping an indignant NO at innocent bystanders who ask whether I am an Auntie yet. For a week my frustration and anticipation has rubbed off onto anybody within range, including friends hundreds of kilometres away. For a week Kate has been trying to calm me by fixing her eyes on mine and announcing at random intervals that the baby will come when it is ready. Lovely words, really. But I'm from generation NOW.

Yesterday evening.
I rang Mike and he said to me I have a little neice for you curled on chest.

And then I heard her cry. A little person. A real, breathing, little person. I don't know what I expected.

I cried. In the way that I cried as a bridesmaid to my only sister, watching her walk down the aisle on her wedding day. I cried in complete and overwhelming happiness. For her, for them both, now for their growing family. I felt as if my heart was glowing through my body like the sun through the gaps in a cloud. They must feel as though they're going to explode as parents, because all this feeling happened to me through a five-minute phone conversation.

To Mike and Kat, you will be a beautiful family. Never doubt it, through tears and tantrums and teeth and teenage times - you are a fmaily now.

To LittleTyke, I vowed to be the best Auntie I can possibly be, to learn and provide and teach. To be a solid foundation in your life. Within five minutes of learning of your existence my solid anti-pink stance had crumbled and I wished for you to have ribbons and dresses and pastel fluffiness forever. All you ned to do is learn to smile at me and you will get anything you want.

To all of you, I love you. xoxox